Water Crisis Now At `Crunch` Stage

March 29, 1990

`Crunch time`` is the unmistakable point that arrives late in a close athletic contest when there is no longer any margin for error and victory or defeat may hinge on every play. In South Florida`s 19-month-old water crisis, ``crunch time`` is here.

Water management officials said Tuesday that this drought-stricken region`s backup supply of water is being depleted at an alarming rate, placing the Everglades in a condition of near-disaster. Unless the rains come soon and often, even stricter water-use restrictions than those in effect for the last four months will be inescapable.

During the last three weeks, Lake Okeechobee, South Florida`s freshwater reservoir, has been tapped for 62 billion gallons -- enough water to supply the city of Fort Lauderdale for three years. As a result, the level of the lake has dropped below 12 feet because water had to be pumped eastward to fill urban needs during a demanding tourist season.

Water managers consider a water level of 13 feet above sea level as the ``environmentally healthy`` minimum for the Everglades Wildlife Refuge, but they concede the level now has dropped to 12.6 feet, meaning animals are becoming the first to pay the escalating price of this protracted dry spell.

Farmers and city dwellers are next in line to make bigger sacrifices under the South Florida Water Management District`s ``share-the-adversity`` policy. That means further mandatory limits on lawn watering, car washing, pool filling, indoor use, agricultural irrigation and air conditioning probably will be announced soon.

With some notable exceptions, South Floridians have generally cooperated with the effort to cope with an unusually long dry cycle that has gripped the state for more than a year and a half. Measurements of recent urban use and the extent of saltwater intrusion into underground water supplies will determine how stringent the new edicts will be.

April and the first two weeks of May are historically the driest period of the dry season, so the odds are against early meteorological intervention to replenish depleted reservoirs.

That means scrupulous compliance with the expected tough new water restrictions will become vitally important for the next six weeks.

Even the smallest lapse during ``crunch time`` could cost South Florida dearly.